Political, Situational, and other News Affecting Wentzville, St. Charles County, St. Louis Metropolitan, Missouri, and the Nation as a Whole.

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Wentzville Voters to Decide Conflict of Interest or Infringed Rights?

Larry Tucker, Lincoln County

Current Wentzville aldermanic candidate Larry Tucker resigned
as the Economic Development Director of Wentzville and then voluntarily took a job
as an economic developer for Lincoln County.
He also ran last year unsuccessfully against Sonya Shryock for Alderman of Wentzville. Sonya Shryock garnered 64.79% of the votes while Larry Tucker managed 34.68%.

The potential conflict of interest between his
job for Lincoln County and serving as an alderman in Wentzville was a hotly debated issue in
that election. It was likely one factor
in his loss to Shryock. Should voters be concerned about this issue?

Since
then the Wentzville Board of Aldermen passed an ordinance that would prevent key employees
of other governments from serving both as an elected public official in
Wentzville and being employed in a
managerial, supervisory and or policy-making position for county and municipal
governments in St. Charles County and adjoining counties. It doesn't bar Mr. Tucker from running, but
he would have to give up his job with Lincoln County if elected.

Larry
Tucker is running again, this time against Alderman Michael Rhoades. Word is that he's also said that if he wins and isn't
seated he will sue the city.

Not many people run
for office promising to sue the city. It
would be unfortunate for the taxpayers of Wentzville who would end up bearing
the cost of the litigation. There is
some precedent for other governmental bodies requiring that elected public officials
not serve in paid governmental positions elsewhere. For instance, one cannot remain a public high school teacher and serve even part time in Missouri's General Assembly -- ask our local State Representative Bryan Spencer about that. Yes, Rep. Spencer had to quit his teaching job to serve the people of Missouri.

In this case, the Wentzville ordinance creates a more localized avoidance of conflict. It is worth noting that Alderman Michael
Rhoades, against whom Mr. tucker is running in this election, voted against the new restriction.

Alderman Michael Rhoades Center Left

The question of
whether or not there is an inherent conflict of interest comes down to the
fact that members of the Board of Aldermen are often provided information on
economic development leads and prospects.
If a potential business or industry were also talking to Mr. Tucker in
his capacity as an economic development person for Lincoln county, there could
be a conflict.

Mr. Tucker says he would
voluntarily recuse himself from such situations, but does his current employer
know that may keep him from following up on or competing for potential
prospects for them? How would we know if
he was gaining inside information that helped him get a jump on winning the
relocation of a business or industry to Lincoln County that might otherwise
have come to Wentzville?

Part of the problem is
how competitive cities and counties must be with each other these days to
promote themselves and to attract business and industry and good paying quality
job prospects.

The issue of real or
perceived conflict of interests aside, there is still the issue of whether or
not it is a good decision to elect a former city employee. Imagine if someone quit the firm or business you work for
and then came back in as a boss over his fellow co-workers and supervisors. Larry Tucker resigned as the Economic
Development Director of Wentzville and voluntarily took a job as an economic
developer for Lincoln County.

As we wrote in an
editorial the last time Mr. Tucker ran for alderman, ex-employees have a long history of
trying to get elected in the jurisdictions of their former employers. The
ex-Fire Chief of the O'Fallon Fire Protection District ran for the O'Fallon
Fire Protection District Board of Directors. While there may be a strong
motivation for wanting to become the boss of your ex-boss, these situations
often lead to recrimination and hostilities.

It is best not to create situations where
anyone with an axe to grind gets to be the boss of their old boss or employees
who they may or may not have gotten along with.This coming Tuesday, April 5th, that is the judgment the voters are in the best position to make.

9 comments:

I am so happy to live in O'Fallon....Our city used to have many controversial issues and elected officials....For the most part that is over and the concentration is focused on wise growth of our city.

Here's the problem I have personally...u cannot be a city employee and live in the county in St. Louis as an example. I would never vote for someone that not only doesnt truly know our city but especially if they actually work in another county. How would they be fully vested in what our city needs in order to continue growth and for the well being of all of us who live here? It's just wrong. Then to top it off...he says he will sue if he were elected and DID NOT quit his Lincoln County job and not be allowed on the board? He already sounds like someone, in my opinion, that wouldn't care much about Wentzville.

Here's the problem I have personally...u cannot be a city employee and live in the county in St. Louis as an example. I would never vote for someone that not only doesnt truly know our city but especially if they actually work in another county. How would they be fully vested in what our city needs in order to continue growth and for the well being of all of us who live here? It's just wrong. Then to top it off...he says he will sue if he were elected and DID NOT quit his Lincoln County job and not be allowed on the board? He already sounds like someone, in my opinion, that wouldn't care much about Wentzville.

Of course this is a conflict of interest, even if he has experience or not (that’s like saying that one of the candidates for mayor has a master’s degree in business – whoopity doo, if he’s not going to do what’s best for Wentzville or its’ citizens).

Mr. Tucker may say that he will recuse himself from votes, etc., but who’s to say that “a little birdy” won’t drop a hint to his coworkers, etc. in Lincoln County? Some under-bidding perhaps, or a better deal to get a business to reconsider working with Wentzville. After all, Lincoln County is paying Mr. Tucker’s bills, not what he will make as alderman. Also, I think one of his big mistakes was announcing that right off the bat, he is going to sue Wentzville if elected.

Now on the other hand, Mr. Tucker’s opponent, incumbent Michael Rhoades, has more integrity and honesty in his pinky than most people I know – what you see is what you get with him; anyone with half a brain and eyes cannot impugn that fact.

Now, I realize that there are some people that no matter how much factual information you put out there, they’re going to cry foul. If the candidates actually quit slinging their lies and false accusations at those incumbents running, and start listing out their candidate’s accomplishments (i.e. military background, volunteering background, successful business ownership, interacting with residents (after the election!), following thru on citizen’s needs and requests, etc.), the good people of Wentzville might actual see both sides — as it is, currently only the incumbents are keeping their campaigns positive and only presenting the facts and accomplishments.

I agree with there being conflicts of interest within the school board as well. After dealing with how some of them approached an issue I had with my special needs daughter, I am really hoping to see some shuffling after the election. Simpson and Bates are supported by our kids' teachers; I've heard great things about Jackson Thompson too.

I agree with there being conflicts of interest within the school board as well. After dealing with how some of them approached an issue I had with my special needs daughter, I am really hoping to see some shuffling after the election. Simpson and Bates are supported by our kids' teachers; I've heard great things about Jackson Thompson too.

Health insurance coverage for elected officials will cost far more than just the monthly premiums paid by the city. In fact, the monthly cost is a fraction of total insurance expenses to taxpayers. For elected aldermen, combined with approved pay increases, this could represent a total compensation to more than $28,000 a year, a 560 percent over the $5,000 a year salary aldermen are now receiving.

Here is how that would work:

The city of Wentzville maintains a self-funded health insurance plan. What that means is the city purchases a particular plan from a health insurance provider that provides access to that company’s provider network. In addition to underwriting the majority of monthly premiums for employees, the taxpayers foot the bill for medical costs. This keeps insurance rates lower than if the city just purchased coverage from a carrier.

In simple terms, that means that each time an employee goes to a doctor’s appointment, gets an X-ray, is hospitalized, or any other medical issue, taxpayers foot about 90 percent of the bill, up to a limit of $75,000 per person each year. That is when a separate insurance policy kicks in to make medical payments.

In its meeting of July 22, 2015, the city was informed by its consultant that total dollars spent on health care were projected to be approximately $2.4 million during 2016, with $1.8 million paid out in medical claims. That works out to an average of about $9,300 per participant. Those projections did not include the participation of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen.

Just based on the average of a single participant, that would bring aldermen total compensation to potentially reach nearly $28,000 a year, up from about $5,000 now – an increase of nearly 560 percent per year for aldermen and the mayor, if they participated in the health insurance program, and that does not include covered family members. That’s $10,000 more a year than a $9-an-hour retail employee - the starting rate for Wal Mart employees - would receive for working a 40-hour week in Wentzville.